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Thursday, September 20, 2018

Come Holy Spirit
with Thy seven-fold gifts and anoint us with Thy divine light, wisdom
and power. Come Lord Jesus Christ and anoint us with Thy Precious Blood,
freeing us from every snare and stronghold of the principalities and
powers of darkness. O Mother of God, glorious and Immaculate and ever
Virgin Mary, come and crush the head of the ancient serpent. O great
father St. Joseph, terror of demons, come and annihilate the enemies of
our souls. St. Michael, great prince and commander of the heavenly army,
strike down the insidious foes who seek to destroy us. Come glorious
band of Apostles, come great patriarchs and prophets; come white robed
army of Martyrs, come pure and noble throng of virgins. Come to our aid
Holy Mother St. Teresa, our Holy Father St. John of the Cross, St.
Elijah, St. Elisha, St. John the Baptist, St. Therese, all you Saints of
Carmel, St. Pio, St. Isaac Jogues and companions, St. Faustina, St.
Benedict, St. Francis, St. Anthony, St. Clare, our Guardian Angels,
Archangels, and all you Holy Angels and Saints, come repulse the attacks
and deceits of our wicked enemies; render them impotent and helpless.
Let God arise; let his enemies be scattered and all those who hate Him
flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven away; as
wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Dear people who are ill, a special place is reserved for you
in the Church community. The condition of suffering in which you live
and the wish to recover health make you particularly sensitive to the
value of hope. To the intercession of Mary I entrust your aspiration to
bodily and spiritual well-being, and I exhort you to enlighten and
elevate it with the theological virtue of hope, a gift of Christ.

It will help you to give a new meaning to suffering, transforming it into a way of salvation,
an occasion for evangelization and redemption. Indeed, "suffering can
also have a positive meaning for man and for society itself, called as
it is to become a form of sharing in the salvific suffering of Christ
and in his joy as the risen one and, therefore, a power for
sanctification and the upbuilding of the Church" (Christifideles Laici, 54; cf. Encyclical Salvifici Doloris,
23). Your experience of pain, modeled on Christ's and indwelt by the
Holy Spirit, will proclaim the victorious power of the Resurrection.

The Pope wished to come among you to
tell you that Christ, who is always close to those who suffer, calls
you to him. Even more: to tell you that you are called to be “other
Christs” and to take part in his mission of redemption. And what is
holiness if not to imitate Christ, and identify with him? Those who
approach suffering with a purely human vision cannot understand its
meaning and can easily fall into despair; at most they may reach a
point of accepting it with a melancholy resignation to the
inevitable. We Christians, on the other hand, instructed in faith,
know that suffering – if we offer it to God – can transform us
into an instrument of salvation and put us on a pathway to sanctity,
which leads us to Heaven. For a Christian, suffering is a cause not
for sorrow but for joy: the joy of knowing that on the Cross of
Christ every one of our sufferings has a redeeming value.

Today, too, the Lord calls us saying
“Come unto me, who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.” Therefore, turn your gaze to him, in the sure hope that he
will give you relief, that in him you will find consolation. Do not
be afraid to show him your sufferings, and sometimes even your
solitude; offer him this together with your your daily crosses, large
and small, and so – even if they frequently seem to you unbearable
– they will not weigh you down, because it is Christ himself who
will carry them for you: “Surely he has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows.” Following Christ on this path, you will feel
the inner joy of doing God's will. It is a joy that is compatible
with sorrow because it is the joy of the children of God, who know
they are called to follow more nearly on the road to Golgotha.